FOR IMMEDIATE RELEASE, AUGUST 21, 2007

27 Schools Named As “Persistently Dangerous” Under NCLB

State
Education Commissioner Richard Mills announced today that 27 schools have been
identified as “persistently dangerous” under the federal No Child Left Behind
Act. As required by federal law, the list of schools is being announced today
so that parents can exercise their right of school choice.

Commissioner
Mills also said this is the first of two announcements to be made. Later this
year, a “Watch List” of schools will be identified that – for 2006-2007 alone –
have too many serious incidents. These schools must improve to avoid being
designated as “persistently dangerous” after two consecutive years. This “Watch
List” will potentially be larger than the list being issued today.

“The Regents
know that nothing is more important than the safety of our children,” Regents
Chancellor Robert M. Bennett said. “We are determined to help schools become
safe. This is a problem that involves parents, the community, and the school. We
must all take action to eliminate the serious problems that exist in some schools.”

“We know
school officials work hard to ensure that children in their care are safe and
learn to the best of their ability,” State Education Commissioner Richard Mills
said. “Nonetheless, some schools report incidents that raise serious concerns
about children’s welfare. It’s critically important that school leaders
intervene quickly to keep children safe.”

“To ensure children’s safety, we must have
accurate information,” Commissioner Mills said. “Only then will we know where
the problems are. The reporting has improved, but there is more that needs to
be done. The Regents are especially concerned about large urban high schools.
We have increased monitoring of schools and are working with school officials
to improve safety across the State.”

Data for all
schools showing all “violent and disruptive incidents” reported by schools in
2005-2006 is also available online at www.nysed.gov.

Schools are
designated “persistently dangerous” if they have two successive years of
serious incidents (in this case, for 2005-2006 and 2006-2007) that meet or
exceed criteria established by the State Education Department. Serious
incidents include: homicide, forcible and other sexual offenses, robbery,
assault resulting in serious physical injury or in physical injury, arson,
kidnapping, reckless endangerment, and possession, use or threatened use of a
weapon.

The standard is a ratio of
violent incidents to enrollment in a school and is determined by the number and
type of incidents. Each incident is given a weighting based on the seriousness
of the incident. The weightings are added. The result is then divided by
enrollment. This yields a numerical index of school violence.

A
school is considered “persistently dangerous” if for both 2005-06 and 2006-07,
it has either:

·An
index of 1.5 (This is approximately 6 incidents per 100 students, more or less
depending on the seriousness of the incidents.)

OR

·At
least 60 serious incidents and an index of at least .50.

Seventeen of
the 27 “persistently dangerous” schools are newly named this year; 10 remain
from last year. The list of schools is attached.

A total of 8
schools were removed this year from the list of “persistently dangerous”
schools, issued last year, because they reported fewer serious incidents. That
list is also attached.

The other 49
states last year reported a total of 30 schools as “persistently dangerous.”
States set their own criteria for identifying schools.

All schools
designated as “persistently dangerous” must provide school choice to students
where transfer options exist. Each school also receives a $100,000 grant to
help improve school safety. School districts must also submit an Incident
Reduction Plan for each school to show the specific steps that the district
will take to reduce the number of violent incidents and improve safety at the
school. Staff from the New YorkStateCenter
for School Safety and RegionalSchoolSupportCenters also provide help
to each school to improve safety.

A total of 51 schools
reported 2005-2006 data that indicated they might be eligible for the list of
“persistently dangerous” schools. They were asked to submit 2006-2007 data.
Those data were evaluated, and 17 new schools were designated “persistently
dangerous.”

Commissioner
Mills also announced that the State Education Department is taking the
following actions to ensure accuracy in reporting of violent and disruptive
incidents:

·Monitoring and auditing of schools is ongoing. During the past year,
the State Education Department conducted site visits to 100 schools to review
reported data. The monitoring and site visits will continue this year.

·Priority for monitoring is given to those schools that are at-risk,
schools that reported a large reduction in incidents, schools that reported
zero incidents, and schools where staff or community members have alleged that
improprieties exist.

·Provide technical assistance that will improve
data reports for the fall,

·Identify what additional professional
development is needed, and

·Identify further actions that can improve our
reporting system.

·If as a result of the monitoring, any schools have underreported and
should be on the list of “persistently dangerous” schools or the “watch list,”
they are added.

·The State Education Department created a single, uniform training
program and has provided extensive in-person regional training to school districts
all over the state. Last year, over 1,600 staff from virtually all school
districts were trained. Training sessions for school administrators are continuing
now.

·Training covers the rules for reporting, answers questions about
specific incidents, and explains how to make schools safer.

·Extensive explanatory materials are available on the web. Web-based
training and written Question and Answer documents provide guidance that is
constantly expanded as new questions are submitted.

·Districts report electronically, and the Department has streamlined
Incident Reports to make them more user-friendly. Districts receive advice on
web-based software to use for easier reporting.